I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to pest control systems, and more specifically to a modular insect trap, which may be configured to encompass an arbitrary area, thus to prevent an infestation of bed bugs and other crawling arthropods from spreading into or out of this area.
II. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Bed bugs, a parasitic, blood feeding arthropod of the family Cimicidea, have been unwelcome residents of human habitation since time immemorial. The common bed bug, Cimex lectularius, has become so well adapted to human dwelling that by the mid-20th century it has established presence in many homes worldwide. In the late 1940's, due to the widespread and increasing use of DDT and vacuum cleaners, the population of beg bugs declined sharply in the western world, and was reduced to near extinction in subsequent years. Following a ban on DDT use in 1972, however, and due to a growing effort since to curb the toxicity and use of insecticides and to the increasing resistance of bed bugs to commercial insecticides which have been in use, there has been a resurgence of bed bug population in recent years. The ever-growing volume of national and international travel and relocation has also contributed to the global proliferation of bed bugs. Not surprisingly, airplanes, cruise ships, hotels, motels, dormitories, barracks, and other short-term lodging facilities are particularly susceptible to bed bug infestation.
Bed bugs are active mostly at night, hiding in tiny cracks and crevices during the day, and are therefore not readily detected. They are capable of withstanding long periods of sub-zero temperatures, and can survive over a year without feeding. As noted above, bed bugs have developed resistance to many commercial insecticides, and those insecticides known to be effective are believed to have a serious adverse effect on human health with prolonged exposure. Bed bugs are not attracted to bait materials used in typical cockroach and ant traps, and are not ensnared by ordinary adhesive-based insect traps. Eradication of bed bugs, once established in a dwelling, has thus proven very difficult.
Attempts to control bed bug infestation approached the problem from three different directions. Traditionally, various natural substances, believed to act as Insect repellents, were employed, but these substances are now generally considered of limited or dubious efficacy, particularly in clearing an already infested area.
More recently, bed bug control strategies focused on insecticides. As mentioned above, many insecticides are no longer effective against bed bugs; others pose a risk to human health. Most insecticides must contact the insect directly to be effective. Due to the secretive nature of bed bugs, however, and their ability to hide in tiny, inaccessible cracks and crevices in the home, it is not always possible to achieve this direct contact.
The third approach to bed bug control has relied on ensnarement of the insects in a trap, which typically comprises a pitfall containing an insecticide, in a powder or liquid form.
Crawling insect traps of the prior art, including bed bug traps, may be broadly categorized into two types: the first type are traps which contain an attractant to lure insects to enter them; the second type are traps which encompass a natural attractant to seclude it from insect access.
One example of a trap of the first type is proposed in patent application US2009/0145020A1 (Susan McKnight; 2009). This trap employs heat, carbon-dioxide, and/or a chemical lure, to attract bed bugs and the like to climb the trap walls and topple over a smooth-walled precipice into an inescapable pit. A significant drawback of all traps of this first type is their localized effect. Insects approaching the natural attractant to be protected from a direction which places them closer to it than to the trap will be affected by it to a greater extent than by the trap and will preferentially proceed to it. In the case of bed bugs, the natural attractant—a person resting on a couch or lying down in a bed—may be sensed over a relatively large area. Effective protection using traps of the first type may only be achieved in this case by the placement of several, closely spaced such traps around the bed or couch area. Increasing the concentration or the dispersal volume of the artificial attractant of traps of this first type does not necessarily broaden their range of effectiveness (an observation noted in patent application US2011072711A1 to Bruce C. Black; 2011), since bed bugs are repelled by highly concentrated attractants or excessive airflow about them.
Crawling insect traps of the aforementioned second type have been devised in two general forms: the first form comprises a platform upon which the object to be isolated is to be placed, which platform is adapted peripherally to repel, immobilize, or destroy inbound insects; the second form (hereafter termed a “peripheral trap”) comprises separate, elongated sections, which are deployed—often interconnected—about the object to be isolated, and which pose an impassable barrier to inbound insects.
One example of a trap of the first form is patent DE102006039990A1 (Anmelder Gleich; 2006), teaching an adaptation of a picnic mat to comprise a peripheral recess filled with insecticide powder to keep crawling insects out of the mat's interior area. Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,821 (James D. Currey; 1998), which teaches the adaptation of a tarp with a raised boundary comprising an adhesive surface, which immobilizes insects attempting to enter the interior tarp area. These two and similar solutions, suitable as they are for isolating a well-defined, relatively small surface area, are impractical for isolating various layouts of furniture in a room. Patent application US20110225873A1 (Suzan McKnight; 2011) proposes a coaster-like platform formed with a circumferential moat, optionally containing an insecticide, which is to be placed under each leg of an article of furniture to intercept crawling arthropods attempting to approach or depart from that article of furniture. Leg-based furniture may be successfully isolated from crawling arthropods with McKnight's device, provided that the article of furniture and any sheeting used with it do not contact adjacent walls or other furniture, and that any bed/sofa spreads or blankets do not contact the floor. In regular, ordinary use, these conditions are difficult to observe. Furniture which is not leg based cannot benefit from this device, of course.
A peripheral trap, the second of the aforementioned forms, that is intended for bed bugs is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 1,005,567 (William H. McDonald; 1911). This device comprises elongated, open, trough-like sections, which are affixed circumferentially to the ceiling, as a continuous, communicating rectangular frame. Bed bugs attempting to climb the walls and traverse the ceiling to a point where they can drop onto a bed are thus intercepted and are channelled along the frame to a collection reservoir. It is also proposed, in this patent, that smooth bands be applied to the legs of the bed to be protected to prevent bed bugs from climbing them. This device, aside from being difficult to install and, arguably, objectionable aesthetically, offers only a partial solution to the problem of bed bug infestation. It purports to seclude a bed from insect access (albeit leg bands would be of as limited efficacy as other leg-based traps), but it cannot curb the spreading of bed bug population.
A peripheral trap intended for crawling insects is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 7,676,985B1 (Robert T. Perkins; 2010). This device consists of a plurality of elongated sections, each section is slightly offset from its mounting surface to create a gap through which insects enter the trap, and comprises an interior cavity which immobilizes admitted insects by an adhesive coating, or exterminates them with an insecticide powder. An adhesive backing allows the sections to be affixed to a bedframe, or to the floor or ceiling to form a continuous isolating barrier.
Since bed bugs, reportedly, are not ensnared by the adhesive coatings that are ordinarily applied to glue traps, this device could only be effective against bed bugs when mounted inverted (i.e. on the ceiling) and filled with an insecticide. As with the previous example, this would be a difficult, unsightly installation, which does not allow ready monitoring of the infestation status and eradiation progress. Furthermore, unless individual sections are carefully placed in perfect abutment against one another, resulting gaps may allow bed bug passage.
Another peripheral trap intended for crawling insects is taught in patent US20100043275A1 (Antonio W. Battick; 2010). This device comprises an elongated, trough-like strip containing an insect immobilizing adhesive or an insecticide, which is affixed circumferentially about the article to be protected. Mounting this device directly onto a bedframe would be ineffective in secluding bed bugs from it, as sheets and blankets inevitably drape over bedframes and would afford bed bugs ready passage to the bed. As mentioned above, glue traps, generally, are ineffective against bed bugs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,999 (Robert S. Vernon; 1999) discloses a large scale peripheral trap intended for secluding beetles from cultivated fields. This device, as the present invention, comprises a plurality of interconnected sections, each formed as a trough featuring coarse outer ramps leading to a smooth-walled precipice. Though it shares the general concept of the present invention, this device is designed to be implanted in soil and cannot be affixed to a floor, nor can it be set up as a continuous, unbroken boundary about an area of arbitrary geometry.
There remains a need, evidently, for effective means by which bed bug infestation may be prevented from spreading into or out of an area in a dwelling or a workplace, which overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings of existing solutions. The present invention addresses this need.